


Hydroponics

by AristoMuse



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Compliant, Child Soldiers, F/M, Family Issues, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Morality, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slice of Life, Third Shinobi War, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23127130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AristoMuse/pseuds/AristoMuse
Summary: "My name is...Tsubaki," she introduced herself after a moment's hesitation. "JustTsubaki. No family name."Shisui waved. "Nice to meet you, Just Tsubaki No Family Name."The look she gave him was one that he had often seen from Fugaku-sama, but she was way cuter than his clan head so he didn't mind as much.
Relationships: Uchiha Shisui/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a drabble style fic that forward the plot. Some will be in Shisui's POV, some will be in Tsubaki's, some will be in other's, etc. I'm making it drabble-like because I have too many longfics and need to teach myself how to write smaller things lmao im a mess

Shisui was not having a good day.

Yesterday, he had been told by his class instructor that he was being moved up to the graduating class despite only having attended the academy for a few months.

Great, fantastic, it'll look good for the clan and all that, and - not gonna lie, it did wonders for his self-esteem. No one else had ever advanced so quickly except for Hatake Kakashi.

As soon as he had gotten home to share the news, however, the excitement and splendor of his genius status had quickly worn off in the face of his delirious father, high on pain killers.

His mother wasn't around to help out, either. He learned from the note on the kitchen table that she had been assigned another mission and had left before he got home.

Again.

Then this morning, his father had mistaken him for an enemy and tried to attack him with a kunai.

It was a good thing he was faster, even though he was much smaller. He didn't want to call for backup from the UMPF again.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Shisui sighed.

"Can this week be over..." he muttered under his breath.

For a six year old, he felt more like sixty.

Of course, this was when the universe decided that, no, it can't, because his senses suddenly picked up a quickly approaching person who was about to run into him. He gave it a second to see if they were gonna veer away since there was plenty of space here in the market this early in the morning, but nope.

He spun around and held out his arms, catching whomever it was that was in such a hurry.

"Oof- Sorry!" He heard the girl exclaim.

He righted her onto her feet, and took a second to examine her.

Blood red eyes like the sharingan hesitantly peered back at him, taking him by surprise, until he realized she didn't have any spinning tomoe. 

Okay, not an Uchiha.

Next thing he noticed about her was her silver hair; the same shade as when sunlight hit spider silk.

Okay, _definitely_ not an Uchiha. Unless one of his clansman went and married out of the clan, but he doubted any of them were ballsy enough to go against the council of crotchety old elders.

Lastly, the most eye-catching, noticeable, and conspicuous thing about her was her horrendously garish _red_ lipstick.

Seriously. He wouldn't consider himself an expert on fashion or anything - though he did think his fashion wasn't terrible for a six year old- but no one in their right minds would wear such a bright lipstick, and at their age too. She looked his age, at least. Maybe a little older.

She suddenly bowed at waist level, which was a higher level of respect than he had never been shown in his short life. "Sorry - I mean, my apologies for bumping into you."

The girl's speech was stilted and awkward.

Shisui pasted a smile on his face. "It's okay, but you should be more careful. There're a lot of elderly people around here right now, and they're probably not as fast as me."

He said probably because he could see Old Man Yamahiro checking out the oranges in the corner of his eye. That guy was a veteran from the First Shinobi War, and was rumored to have gone toe-to-toe with the Tsuchikage, who could _fly_.

He never checked if those rumors were true, but better safe than sorry.

Her bright red lips twitch into a smile, and she straightened up to look at him, then paused. 

She looked at him; at his blue shirt that featured the Uchiha's penchant for wide collars, at his charcoal black eyes, and the black swirls of his hair. 

Her face lost its smile, replaced with a weird look, and he raised a brow.

Was she not a fan of the Uchiha? No surprise; a lot of people didn't like his clan, and he could admit sometimes that he didn't really like them, either.

He was about to ask when she suddenly dashed off, leaving him behind in the middle of the market road.

"Hey!" Shisui yelled out after her, but she didn't stop, and he sighed, not wanting to run after her despite being more than capable of catching up with her speed.

Damn it, it wasn't even 8AM yet and already this day was shaping up into a failure. He didn't even get her name, or why she had been running.

Oh well.

With a forced shrug, Shisui continued to head toward the academy.

He definitely wouldn't forget her, though. That red lipstick was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning, class," the instructor, Hiruta, greeted them with a stern face. 

"Good morning, sensei," the class replied back with varying degrees of excitement and boredom.

"As you know, this is your last year here at the academy. Now normally the curriculum is supposed to go on for several months, but due to a recent rise in demand for more shinobi, the year will be cut short and your studies will be accelerated."

The class broke out in furious whispers. Accelerated? Why? Everything's been normal so far, what had suddenly changed?

One student kept her head down, letting her silver hair curtain her face. She remembered from her grandfather's notes that a rise in demand in the workforce meant that the more experienced shinobi were needed for more important tasks, and the minor details needed to be done by those with less experience. Less usefulness.

They were being churned out of the academy to help out.

"Hey, what do you think?" 

Startled, she looked up to see it was the classmate sitting next to her that called out to her. "Huh..?" She slowly blinked.

Idate frowned. He was a rather nondescript looking boy with dark hair and eyes, except for the arrogant look on his face. "I asked you what do you think about this news? Isn't it kinda suspicious that this is happening now all of a sudden?"

She slowly shrugged. Why was he talking to her? He usually avoided her unless he was trying to challenge her. "I gue - uh, I suppose. The last time something like this had occurred was during the second shinobi war."

"Wait - You think there's gonna be war?" Idate whispered, shocked. 

"Maybe," she mumbled.

He scoffed. "Well, there's no question that I'll definitely be sent to the front lines. They'd want talented and strong shinobi like me to clear out the enemies."

"Get real, Morino," Yugao spoke up from the desk behind theirs, "your scores in class may be good, but you're definitely not good enough to be sent to the front lines. You would only be heading to your grave."

She didn't speak up, but she agreed with Yugao-san. Genin are to be the foundation, the last defense for the village in case any enemy forces came close enough to threaten the civilians. Anyone who was more talented would've been promoted to Chuunin at least, and be sent out as the secondary wave. All the large scale battles would be done by Jounin and Tokubetsu.

Since they were still in the academy, there was no way, even with an accelerated program, that they would be sent out too far from the village for a good while.

"Shut up, Yugao." Idate sneered at her. "You two just wanna hog all the attention, being the top kunoichi in the class. You'll see; I'll be taking the spot of top shinobi this year."

Yugao simply closed her eyes and refused to answer him.

She decided to do the same and paid attention to the front of the class, where Hiruta-sensei was growing more and more impatient.

"Enough!" Hiruta-sensei barked, and the whole class froze. "Save the gossiping for lunch. For now, I've got another announcement." He turned toward the door. "Come in."

The door slid open, and a young boy clad in Uchiha blues and whites walked into the room. He was smaller than most of the students in class, but held himself with a confidence that they didn't have. He wore standard Uchiha attire with an added brown holster for the small tanto strapped to his back. 

Giving the class a smile, his large charcoal eyes curved up, accentuating his long lashes. "Good morning." He bowed. "My name is Uchiha Shisui."

She couldn't help but gasp; he was the one she bumped into earlier when she was rushing to class.

His eyes met hers, and his smile widened.


	3. Chapter 3

When lunch was announced, his classmates all separated into different cubbyholes around the school to eat. 

Shisui didn't bother to do the same; rather, he had something else in mind.

He watched her from one of the trees as she found a secluded bench away from the rest of the class, and took a seat. She opened her bento, showing a collection of delicacies that were high in carbs and protein.

She didn't start eating yet, however. To his surprise, she looked up directly at him without hesitation. Had she sensed him somehow?

Deciding to solve the mystery once and for all, Shisui jumped down and walked up to her with a wave.

"Fancy bumping into you again," Shisui said.

She looked at him with an identical expression from this morning, confirming that she was definitely the same person. The one that had ran into him at full speed, and the only thing he had gotten from that encounter was a good look at her horrible choice in lipsticks.

In fact, there it was: the most eye-catching bright red that could ever be produced with pigments, painted on her small lips. The same shade as her eyes, too.

"You know, from this morning?" He prompted. "Don't tell me you forgot about me already."

She blushed, the rush of blood creating a horrible blotchy red on her face as if she'd had too much sun. "O-Oh, right. Um, I apologize again for inconveniencing you."

He waved away her apology. "It's fine, just be more careful. You don't have to speak to me like I'm Hokage-sama or something; we're classmates now and you're technically my senpai."

It was true. Hiruta-sensei had explained that Shisui would be advancing from entry year to graduation year with them, despite being so young. Most of the class had reacted to this negatively, shouting that there was no way a 'baby' like him was on their level. 

Sure enough though, Shisui had the best scores during shuriken and kunai practice, as well as showing an exemplary clone jutsu that was actually an afterimage clone.

It didn't help endear him to the class, but he wasn't here to do that. 

The girl didn't respond. She just stared up at him with those not-sharingan eyes of hers.

Coloring like hers was pretty rare around Fire country. Did she come from a clan, or was she albino? And how did she sense him when he made sure to conceal his presence?

"Hm...How about we start over?" Shisui took the empty seat next to hers. "I'm Uchiha Shisui. I look forward to working with you in the future." 

A nice, polite introduction. No one could say no to that.

"My name is...Tsubaki," she introduced herself after a moment's hesitation. " _Just_ Tsubaki. No family name."

Weird emphasis on having no family name. So either an orphan or estranged from blood family. Maybe both.

Shisui waved. "Nice to meet you, Just Tsubaki No Family Name."

The look she gave him was one that he had often seen from Fugaku-sama, but she was way cuter than his clan head so he didn't mind as much. Although, when coupled with that ugly lipstick and the bright afternoon sunlight, it looked more like smeared tomato sauce.

He probably shouldn't tell her that, though.

"...Nice to meet you as well, Uchiha-kun," Tsubaki finally replied. "I...apologize if class was not what you were expecting."

He quirked a brow. "Why are _you_ apologizing? Unless you were the one who told them to heckle me for my age and to stick gum under my chair..."

She looked taken aback. "N-No! Of course not!"

"Then don't apologize. You're not responsible for their actions."

In fact, she seemed to be an outsider of sorts like him. None of their classmates had asked to have lunch with her, and she didn't stop to see if they would, meaning she was used to eating alone.

Curiouser and curiouser.

"I watched your performance today, Uchiha-kun," Tsubaki began hesitantly, "your footwork and hand-eye coordination was...amazing. As expected from a member of the Uchiha clan."

Shisui held back a grimace. "Please, call me Shisui. There's too many Uchiha to be calling me 'Uchiha-kun.' Besides, we could end up on the same team, you know?" He grinned. "Best get formalities out of the way."

Tsubaki smiled shyly. "Right. Shisui-kun then. I also look forward to working with you if your skill in shurikenjutsu extends to the rest of your repertoire." She eyed his lack of food and slowly held out her bento. "Would...you like some food?"

Shisui brightened.

Maybe today wasn't so bad, after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Shisui had quickly settled into her class, which surprised Tsubaki.

It wasn't that she expected anything terrible; her classmates were mostly reasonable people of varying skill, though some of them thought they were on top of the world.

Of course, the few that weren't reasonable were the more...annoying ones.

Since Shisui had decided that they were now on good terms, he had taken the seat next to her's in class, the one where Idate had previously occupied.

Which Idate was not happy about. "Hey, Uchiha! For the last time; this is _my_ chair!" He glared down at the smaller boy. "Move it!"

"Hmm..." Shisui pretended to think, even going so far as to furrow his forehead and sticking his lower lip out. "Sorry, but I already got the OK from Hiruta-sensei, so this is my seat now."

The vein on Idate's temple pulsed, and he turned his scowl over to Tsubaki, who studiously looked away. "Tsubaki! Tell your little brat here to get out of my seat!"

Tsubaki frowned. Okay, she'd had enough. "Morino-san, the only one acting like a brat right now is you," she said quietly, "please stop trying to pick on Shisui-kun just because you're unhappy over something that Sensei decided."

The look of surprise Shisui sent her way didn't distract her from the fact that Idate looked like he was getting angrier instead of calmer like she had hoped.

Let it be said that she had never been the best with people.

Finally, Idate scoffed and looked away with his fists clenched. "Damn it all..." he muttered, before stomping over to the only empty seat in the classroom. He scared both Kotetsu and Izumo when he sat down with a loud harrumph.

Tsubaki grimaced and looked down at her lap. "Sorry for that, Shisui-kun. I thought I could calm him down..."

"Again, you're apologizing for something not your fault," Shisui replied calmly, "don't worry about it. Besides, after that display, Hiruta-sensei will take my side and change my seat here."

Pausing, Tsubaki slowly looked at him, bemused. "Wait...Pardon, but you mean to say you started that scene so you could take his seat?"

"Ah, but I didn't start anything, did I?" Shisui grinned, unrepentant. "Morino-san was the one who got mad, after all."

Tsubaki stared at him.

Her new acquaintance was...worrying, but she had to admit, he was sharp. He had manipulated that entire scenario to get the results he wanted. He had shown that despite his age, he was more than on par with his older classmates, and far more mature than them due to Idate losing control of his temper and humiliating himself.

"You are...impressive," she murmured.

Shisui gave her another smile, but didn't respond since Hiruta-sensei walked into the class.

* * *

When the day ended, Tsubaki packed up her meager belongings into her bag, and gave a nod to Shisui. 

Taking one step out of the building, she was stopped by a loud voice. "Hey, Tsubaki!" 

Grimacing, she turned around to see it was Idate again. She wasn't the only one who turned around, either, as various students and parents coming to pick them up had also turned their attention to them.

This...was not what she wanted. At all.

"What's the big idea today, huh?!" Idate marched up to her with a scowl. "You've always been the one person I could count on in class to not be a total loser, but since that Uchiha brat transferred in, he's been like a leech on you!"

Tsubaki said nothing, but her mind was a different matter.

Maybe if Morino-san tried to solve his problems by not being verbally violent, he would actually see some positive results.

"And you're not phased by it at all! It's like you want that brat to latch onto you!"

Shisui-kun had been kind, and proved to have an intellectually sharp mind. Unlike most of the class, he went out of his way to talk with her, so by courtesy's sake - and for the fact that she was quite, well...lonely - she would respond in kind. Even if he was an Uchiha.

"And now you're all buddy buddy, and you just sat there and let him take _my_ seat!"

All right, this had gone on far too long.

"Morino-san, please desist," Tsubaki said quietly with her hands flexing in preparation, "as his senpai, you should be a better example."

His face twisted. "'Better example'? He couldn't wish for a better example than me! He shouldn't be taking my seat anyway. Don't you think it's weird that a kid like him is even in our class?"

Not really. The Second Shinobi War was still pretty fresh on everyone's minds, even though it had been a decade since it ended. Hatake Kakashi, their senpai of six years, had graduated at the age of five. There were always some prodigies in each generation.

Including Shisui and her.

Tsubaki sighed and shook her head at him. "Morino-san, please let it go. Showing such contempt for a future comrade while in public like this doesn't reflect well on your future career." She pursed her red lips. "You are a future shinobi of Konoha. You will depend on your fellow konoha-nin during missions, like Shisui-kun. You should not be biting the hand that could one day save you."

Taken aback, Idate frowned. "Doubtful. I'll be making jounin before any of you, and by then I'll be far out of your league in mission ranks." His voice positively dripped with arrogance. "Whatever then. If you want to hang out with your precious 'Shisui-kun,' then do it away from me."

And with that, he walked away, ignoring the multiple eyes that followed his back, coupled with sighs and shaking heads.

"That went well," Shisui said after appearing next to her in an instant. Tsubaki didn't flinch; she felt the minute change in air flow from his arrival. "So much for age bringing maturity, huh."

Sighing, Tsubaki turned around and began walking away from the academy. She wasn't surprised to hear his footsteps following her. "Well...I find that sayings like that only create unreasonable expectations," she murmured, "especially in our line of work."

"Oh?" Shisui lifted a brow. "Like who?"

Tsubaki paused. There was only ever one person that came into mind when speaking of age and maturity. "...Senju Tsunade, for example. Despite being almost forty years old, she's off gambling and getting drunk instead of working," she muttered, unable to help the bitterness that crept in. 

Shisui glanced at her. "...Sounds personal," he remarked rather casually.

Tsubaki didn't answer him, for she had left him behind in favor for the trees, dashing from branch to branch. He didn't follow her this time, despite being more than fast enough to catch up, and she was slightly grateful for that.

Arriving at an empty training ground near the outskirts of the city, Tsubaki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No one to the north for ten kilometers. No one to the south for five kilometers except for the guards on top of the village wall's. No one to the west. No one to the east for fifteen kilometers.

Diminishing her senses, she opened her eyes and lifted up her left sleeve.

It was best not to show off what was on her left arm until she was more capable.

She wouldn't be able to explain the multitude of seals, anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, who do you think you'll end up with when it comes time for team placements?" Shisui asked a few weeks later after class had ended for the day.

They had slowly settled into the sort of friends-but-only-because-they-were-in-the-same-class dynamic, which suited Tsubaki just fine. Most of the people she was on good terms with were of the same status, like Yugao. Close enough to have an amiable conversation once in a while, but distant enough that she was never invited to hang out or train with them.

It was fine.

"I am not sure," Tsubaki mumbled while adjusting her sleeve, "anyone is fine. I can work with whoever."

Shisui lifted a brow. "Really? Not gonna hope for anyone specific?" He fluttered his long lashes. "Not even _me_?"

Startled, Tsubaki looked down at him with wide eyes. "Uh- Um..." 

Did he mean he wanted to be on the same team? An _Uchiha_ would want to be on the same team as _her_? 

Amused at her slack-jawed appearance, he poked her in the cheek. "What's with that reaction? You don't want to be on the same team as me?"

Snapping out of her stupor, she felt her cheeks redden and smacked his hand away. "It's very rude to touch someone like that," she scolded halfheartedly. "In any case, I did say anyone is fine, did I not? That means you too."

"Well that's kind of an answer, I guess." Shisui grinned. "I already know we'll be on the same team anyway."

Tsubaki turned to him, surprised. He did? Then why did he ask? Was he just poking for a reaction?

"Seeing how I've already risen to the top of the class, and you being up there as well, we're bound to be on the same team," he continued nonchalantly, "I wonder who our third teammate would be, though. It depends on the tension."

She paused in the middle of the street. "...Tension?"

He turned back to her, his face void of a smile for once. "Yeah," he confirmed, "the clan has been whispering about the rise in tensions in international affairs. It's not common knowledge yet, but Iwa has been stealing our missions, and Kumo sabotages them, though that's not to say they don't already do that."

Mulling it over in her head, Tsubaki stepped in pace with him again. "So my theory holds truth," she said calmly, though internally she could feel that painful searing grip of anxiety in her chest. "If your information can be trusted, it's likely we will be deployed as intelligence delivery."

"Unless they decide to throw us out onto the front lines," Shisui said cheerfully, "just think, us fresh genin versus enemy chuunin and jounin. How long do you think we'd last? Maybe a minute at most if we were lucky?"

Tsubaki glanced at him. "...I did not take you for a pessimist."

"Realism," he corrected her, "with a heavy dose of humor. To be serious, though, there's a very likely chance we may die this year," he murmured, making sure to be quiet when they passed by a chuunin, "and that doesn't even account for things outside of the impending war."

"Dying..." She looked down. "Shisui-kun, do you..." She unconsciously gripped her left arm. "Do you ever think about what life would be like if we weren't shinobi?"

In a military village that depended on the war economy, asking such a question was ludicrous to even think about, because who didn't want to be a strong shinobi protecting their home with their will of fire? And yet, she wanted answers. They may not be the answers she would like, but they would be answers nonetheless, and perhaps it would help her better understand why their world operated like this. Why these systems and expectations existed in the first place.

Why no one has yet to fight it.

"Nope," came his answer, "I'm an Uchiha, and every Uchiha is born to be shinobi." He looked somber; a strange expression to be appearing on a six year old. "There's no point thinking about what-ifs like that." He glanced at her. "How about you, Tsubaki-chan?"

Tsubaki grimaced at the cute suffix, but pushed past the embarrassment. "I...I am also born to be a shinobi. I know no other way of living."

Shisui let out a bittersweet chuckle. "Don't we make quite the pair. Well..." He looked up at the orange sky. "At least we had beautiful weather today, and our lunches were delicious. We should be thankful to experience even this much, right?"

"Don't you mean _my_ lunch?" She mumbled.

They continued their walk in silence, letting the village's lively chatter wash over them. The markets were thriving, and despite only being 4 o'clock, many stores were already out of stock for the day. Restaurants were becoming more and more crowded with people having their dinners after work, and there were the occasional shinobi teams coming back from missions, dirtied and exhausted but bolstering a look of pride and success.

Tsubaki wondered if she would ever look like that with her future team, if she would even be assigned one. Knowing the Hokage, she may be spirited away to be placed under an apprenticeship.

"Hey Tsubaki-chan," came Shisui's voice, as well as his hand tugging on her sleeve. 

Trying not to tense when his hand was just centimeters away from touching one of her seals, she slowly turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"Do you want to train sometime? Not today, but soon." He smiled. "If we'll be on the same team, we should get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, right?"

"I...I suppose, yes," Tsubaki breathed out, eyes wide. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I've been curious about your abilities for a while now; since the day we met, actually. You're a sensor type, aren't you?"

She tensed. "...I am."

Shisui noticed, though, and apologetically stepped back. "Oh, sorry. Was that supposed to be a secret?"

"A little..." Tsubaki mumbled, "It's all right, though. Sensors aren't that rare in Konoha. I shouldn't be so on guard about it."

"Hmm..." He placed his hands on his hips. "Well, since I accidentally outed one of your secrets, I'll tell you one of mine?"

She eyed him. "It- It's all right, you don't have to."

He shrugged and smiled. "I want to. Future teammates, remember? Besides, I'm sure you'll keep this knowledge to yourself." He blinked, and it only took a split second between him closing his eyes and opening them again, but dark charcoal morphed into a bright red, dotted with a tomoe in each one. 

Tsubaki inhaled sharply, and just as she opened her mouth, Shisui blinked again, his eyes returning to their normal color. Ordinary yet so extraordinary all the same.

Her mouth snapped closed with a click. "...I see."

He snorted. "More like _I_ see." He winked mischievously. "In any case, now you know. I don't plan on keeping it a secret for much longer, but it's much safer to not say anything as of right now."

"Even to your clan?" She couldn't help but ask.

" _Especially_ the clan."

* * *

Arriving home once the sun had disappeared from the sky to be replaced by the moon, Tsubaki checked the traps before forcing herself to relax.

The door was bugged with two wire traps where if an intruder opened the door too slowly or too quickly, it would activate and tie them by their ankles and neck. A seal had been carved behind the door to gauge chakra capacities, and was tied to its sister seal on her left arm. If they got past the front door, there were paralysis seals tied into the doorframe that activated if it detected unknown chakra signatures. If there was no chakra, there was a false plating at the foyer that triggered by weight. Soundproof seals were placed everywhere inside the apartment as well, preventing their civilian neighbors from hearing anything they didn't have to hear.

Making these traps had literally driven her to blood, sweat, and tears, but she was told they were worth it.

Tsubaki did not subscribe to the same paranoia, however.

Toeing off her sandals, she entered the dead silent apartment where her footsteps-- already quiet for her age-- were as loud as drum beats against the wooden floor. She bypassed the living room, which was clean but untouched. The kitchen with not a dish out of place to the point where dust gathered on the racks. The bathroom where the sink still held pink stains.

Opening the door to one of the two bedrooms, Tsubaki paused in the doorway and bowed respectfully, avoiding looking at the person inside. "Good evening, mother."

Her mother did not answer her. 

"I brought back dinner from the gyoza place you like."

Still no answer.

Tsubaki placed the takeout bag onto the nightstand. "I will be retiring for the night, mother."

The only response she received was the sound of slow and steady breathing.

"I am slated to graduate from the academy in one month."

Blank red eyes finally turned to her. Her mother slowly opened her mouth. "...Good. Top..?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes, I am at the top of the class next to Shisui-kun."

"...'Shisui-kun'?"

Tensing, the young girl took a deep breath to stay her trepidation. "...Uchiha Shisui."

That got a reaction out of her mother; her eyes widened, and her hands, small and weak from lack of use, tightened around the blue blankets that covered her. "...Uchiha? An _Uchiha_?" Her jaw clenched. "An _Uchiha_ is _better_ than you?!"

"Mother--"

"I will not accept this!" The woman screeched, murky silver hair fanning around her erratically. "Uchihas are scum! We never should have let them into the village! They're a scourge of cursed devils!"

"Mother, please," Tsubaki said shakily, "calm down--"

"Calm down?! I will not calm down! Do not talk to your mother that way!" The loud sound of glass exploded in the room. Tsubaki looked to her right to see a shattered teacup sliding down the wall, close to where her head would be. "Get out and do better! You are our only hope of redeeming our family!"

Tsubaki lowered her head and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Letting out an unsteady breath, she headed for her own room.

The door was sealed against anyone that wasn't her, and it was the only place she felt truly safe. Inside this room, she heard nothing, saw nothing, sensed nothing. Nothing from the outside could reach her here, and for that, she was thankful.

Scrolls upon scrolls laid in neat piles on the shelves, on her bed, and on her floor. Anywhere with space, there was a scroll somewhere. 

Taking a seat in front of a small mirror, she stared at her reflection.

As she wiped away the red lipstick, leaving bland pink behind, she once again let herself wonder about a life where she didn't have to be a shinobi.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are loved and appreciated! <3


End file.
